Manny

Yesterday as I dropped off Emily I noticed her looking across the street at Connie's house, and for some reason my thoughts turned to Manny. How good he could be with the kids. And especially the way he acted when holding "Baby Em" as he called her. And a tear came to my eye for a moment. At that moment I realized that while I have written about all the care he received, and have posted pictures and news updates, I haven't really spoke about him here. So this will be a memorial post of sorts.

Manny wasn't much older than me, in fact he was younger than my brother Dan by about 6 months. So while he was treated as a father or stepfather figure by Kim and her siblings, for me he fell more into the category of an older brother. Honestly we had very little in common. We liked different sports, different hobbies etc. We had our moments where we disagreed (sometimes very vocally). But deep down we had a level of respect between us.

My fondest memories are playing games. Whether it was Bocce ball, or Ladder ball, or card games, if there was one thing we had in common it was an enjoyment of these games. And a healthy competitive streak whenever we played made the games fun. And for a few years (before life and my wrist problems took their toll) we had golf. I wasn't the best golfer (in fact far far from it), but Manny humored me out on the course, just enjoying the time in the sun. In fact some of my co-workers still talk about that guy I brought golfing with them one time.

And I learned from him. When we first moved into our house I would have been hard pressed to show even the most rudimentary of carpentry skills. But I spent enough time with Manny when he worked on our house that I learned. I learned enough, some by trial and error, but mostly by watching Manny at work, because Manny was a skilled craftsman. And there aren't a lot of rooms in our house where we can't see his handiwork.

I'll miss him, his humor in the face of pretty much anything. His desire to just live and enjoy life. And I know that my kids will miss out not having him around as a potential teacher of things that they won't learn from me. But I know that I am richer for having had him in my life, and that the family is immensely richer for having him around. Farewell Manny, and thank you for all you did.